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Terminator 3
Warner Bros. // R // July 2, 2003
List Price: Unknown
The bad news is that Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines isn't going to be remembered with the same love and affection as its two predecessors, but the good news is that it isn't going to be reviled the way some other third chapters in successful ongoing series have (Alien 3 immediately pops to mind). What T3 basically turns out to be is a very good "popcorn" flick – and while it may lack the depth and emotional impact of its predecessors, it's still easily the best time I've had at my local Cineplex so far this summer.
The movie opens darker than one might suspect, with John Connor (Nick Stahl) bringing us up to date on his life, telling us in voice-over how he has all but made himself anonymous, has avoided technology of any kind, and how he is still unsure what the future may hold for him. Naturally, it doesn't take long for the first Terminator to pop up, the T-X (Kristanna Loken), who can best be described as a cross between the original Terminator and the one Robert Patrick played in the last movie. In other words, this one has an advanced endoskeleton, but it still has the liquid metal morphing abilities of the T-1000.
Without giving too much of the story away, the T-X has a somewhat broader mission than finding and killing John Connor. That mission also involves young Kate Brewster (Claire Danes), a girl whose father happens to be the military official whose prime responsibility is the computerized Skynet system – which, as all Terminator fans know, is the system which initiates the war between man and machine.
Despite the rather somber tone that the first twenty or so minutes of the film has, things get much more fun and humorous once Arnold Schwarzenegger's Terminator arrives on the scene. This, naturally, is a different Terminator than the one we saw in the last movie, but it doesn't take long before the audience feels like they are watching the same character, and director Jonathan Mostow has a lot of fun with the humor – much of which depends on fans' knowledge of the previous films. As for Arnold himself, who hasn't really shined at the box office for a number of years – he slides back into the character like it was an old suit, and he does a great job once again in perhaps his most memorable film role.
Where T3 lets us down is mainly in the action area. Although the storyline has just as much at stake as the previous films, the film itself doesn't seem quite as "big" in scope as T2 was. There's a big car chase early in the movie that doesn't quite match the one from the beginning of T2 and a not too dissimilar climax (where the fate of the world depends on destroying a building) that doesn't quite live up to the similar sequence in the last film.
Without giving it away, I think a lot of fans are going to be surprised by the conclusion of the movie, while others may be outraged by it. As a fan of the series and a viewer, I will say that it both shocked and satisfied me – and it certainly leaves the door wide open for what could be a pretty good sequel, should box office receipts for this movie warrant one.
So while you won't fall in love with T3 like you did the first two movies, you're probably going to have a pretty good time watching this film in the theater and may even find yourself going back to see it one or two more times (and how many films this summer can you say that about?!). T3 isn't a great movie, but it's a respectable and entertaining entry in this series' franchise.
The movie opens darker than one might suspect, with John Connor (Nick Stahl) bringing us up to date on his life, telling us in voice-over how he has all but made himself anonymous, has avoided technology of any kind, and how he is still unsure what the future may hold for him. Naturally, it doesn't take long for the first Terminator to pop up, the T-X (Kristanna Loken), who can best be described as a cross between the original Terminator and the one Robert Patrick played in the last movie. In other words, this one has an advanced endoskeleton, but it still has the liquid metal morphing abilities of the T-1000.
Without giving too much of the story away, the T-X has a somewhat broader mission than finding and killing John Connor. That mission also involves young Kate Brewster (Claire Danes), a girl whose father happens to be the military official whose prime responsibility is the computerized Skynet system – which, as all Terminator fans know, is the system which initiates the war between man and machine.
Despite the rather somber tone that the first twenty or so minutes of the film has, things get much more fun and humorous once Arnold Schwarzenegger's Terminator arrives on the scene. This, naturally, is a different Terminator than the one we saw in the last movie, but it doesn't take long before the audience feels like they are watching the same character, and director Jonathan Mostow has a lot of fun with the humor – much of which depends on fans' knowledge of the previous films. As for Arnold himself, who hasn't really shined at the box office for a number of years – he slides back into the character like it was an old suit, and he does a great job once again in perhaps his most memorable film role.
Where T3 lets us down is mainly in the action area. Although the storyline has just as much at stake as the previous films, the film itself doesn't seem quite as "big" in scope as T2 was. There's a big car chase early in the movie that doesn't quite match the one from the beginning of T2 and a not too dissimilar climax (where the fate of the world depends on destroying a building) that doesn't quite live up to the similar sequence in the last film.
Without giving it away, I think a lot of fans are going to be surprised by the conclusion of the movie, while others may be outraged by it. As a fan of the series and a viewer, I will say that it both shocked and satisfied me – and it certainly leaves the door wide open for what could be a pretty good sequel, should box office receipts for this movie warrant one.
So while you won't fall in love with T3 like you did the first two movies, you're probably going to have a pretty good time watching this film in the theater and may even find yourself going back to see it one or two more times (and how many films this summer can you say that about?!). T3 isn't a great movie, but it's a respectable and entertaining entry in this series' franchise.
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